If "Freddy" proves himself as a racehorse, he may be used as a stud. In general, only horses that were great runners get to stand at stud in KY, although there are exceptions, such as some horses that have great pedigrees but maybe got injured in training or something. Really, the fillies are lucky because they stand a much better chance at being used for breeding purposes than the boys do. The vet didn't seem to think that it was a genetic thing--more of a mutation. I guess if Freddy gets to be a dad we'll see if he passes that on to his kids. Barring any unforseeable accidents or injuries, he will start training in the fall of his yearling year (which will be fall 2006), and start racing in 2007. Most of them start racing as 2 year olds, although if they are not doing well in training some owners will turn them out a little longer and wait until they're 3. He is not officially named yet, so I guess I'll keep you posted when they get his papers done and then you can follow his career. On a related note, the organization that oversees the Thoroughbred registry in USA is the Jockey Club. To name a t-bred, we have to submit 3 choices of names to the JC. They then reply to us whether any of those names are acceptable. They have certain rules, such as no profainity, no famous or notorious people (withough their written permission), no company trademarks or copyrighted material. There's also a limit of 18 characters (letters & spaces), so a lot of times you'll see several words run together, such as "Factofthematteris" or "Justoneofthegirls". For the list of rules, click the link below. Another interesting fact is that offspring by the same sire are not considered "brothers and sisters." If I say I have a full sister to Smarty Jones, for example, that means that my horse has the same mother and father as Smarty. If I have a half-sister to Smarty, then my horse has the same mother, but different father. But if I have a horse by the same sire as Smarty, well, then I just have a horse by Elusive Quality (Smarty's dad). As for why they paint the fences black: the paint lasts longer. They mix it with creosote, and it gives a stain to the wood so that even when the paint peels off, it still looks black (or gray at least). The creosote helps protect the wood, and supposedly the horses won't eat the paint off the boards as bad. So, black paint is cheaper in the long run. Here is a link that might be useful: Jockey Club Naming Rules

We finally got some rain this morning, maybe a couple inches. It is so dry that all the water was absorbed, just like a dry sponge soaked it up. I saw one rain puddle, all the rest of the water was used by the thirsty trees and plants. We could use a couple more inches in a couple days but are only supposed to get heat. We got in the first 500 bales of horse hay. Supposed to do another 500 this weekend. Went pretty quick with the elevators. Hay looks pretty nice so far, good and dry. I have been working on clearing fence again, weed whacking. Also got the drainage ditch cleaned out. We get Canary grass and Cattails that really grow well in the early summer. Ground is too wet to cut them out then, so I have to wait for late summer and dry times. I cut everything down to the dirt. DD raked all the trimmings out so water should have a clean run to drain off this fall. I have a feeling the fall rains will be strong, lots of water, so I want the ditch draining well, doing it's job quickly. We are at the bottom of the drain before it goes into the tube, so any backup fills my paddock and the neighbors front barnyard. Lake O'Dell we call it! I leave the cattails that are right in front of the tube going under the road to Lake O'Dell. Water pressure is like a huge hose, with all the backed up water pushing behind. Cattails soften the water exit flow, keep draining water from washing out the whole side of the 6ft ditch, eroding the fence. Ditch makes 3 corners in short space, slows water down, so is apt to overflow there when we have large rainfalls. Clean bottom of my ditch allows draining water to just fly into the big tube, drain away. Nothing to catch leaves, make a dam in water flow. Put up a bushel of tomatoes, did half dried, half frozen. I am not a canning person. Too much work for me! I did a lot of canning with my mom as a kid. We canned and froze everything we could. Better food, cheaper to feed 4 growing kids all winter. We all went to pick or get whatever we were fixing, helped prepare it, peeling, seeding, whatever. I think I just did too many jars then. The dried tomatoes take a bit longer, but make good snacks, kids like them in lunches. I experimented with some extra herbs from the garden, really added some nice flavor. DD made some of the trays, flavors will be a surprise to all! Also did a bushel of peppers into the freezer. They go pretty fast. Cut in half, remove seeds and wash. Then I quartered them and ran the pieces thru the food processor slicer. Kind of julianned them, small pieces but not bits. Bagged them and froze. We add the frozen pieces to food we are cooking, good color and flavor. I had a bag sealer to use, didn't work too well. Seals on the bags were erratic. I will be returning it and getting the better brand. Should have listened to my mom, she told me cheap one wouldn't work. She likes her sealer a lot. Have been getting really good sweet corn at the Farmer's Market. Horses love the husks, we do limit their quantity to eat. Our market is getting some very odd food, fun to experiment with new stuff. Eggplant in every color EXCEPT purple. The long purple striped, white eggplants are very good. Also round white ones. Black tomatoes are the BEST for eating out of your hand! She said they are a heritage plant, Black Russians. She had a bunch of funny looking ones, every one was delicious. Cantaloupe are coming in, I use them for desert, with a scoop of ice cream. So much good stuff, I take the kids' old red wagon while shopping the market now. Husband is also bringing home garden produce from his customers. Regular tomatoes, cucumbers and zuccini. We are eating very healthy this time of year. Apple and pears are getting ripe in the fencerows, horses slurp them down first thing every day. The old horse is saying winter is coming, starting to get new hair. I plan on giving her a bath if it does get up over 80F this weekend. Cool nights are making it good sleeping, morning is getting later every day. DD is enjoying her riding lessons, showing progress. Her horse is a lot more lively in this cooler weather. He has been off work a month with his EPM treatment. Seems more comfortable. Hope he is cured, though we hear a lot of horses have a relapse, need another course of meds. Foal is growing like a weed, shoulders are about armpit high now, we can lean on him. We are working on him being seperate from mom, want to wean this next month. He is kind of dragging her down, thin for her. He looks very well, almost fat with no grain at all. He is eating hay well, pasture is pretty burned up. Mare is not bred back, which could be from her not being in a gaining condition to get in foal. We will try breeding her again next year, too late this season. With the rainfall I will get a couple days off watering the trees! Our big ones are looking rough, dry edged leaves. Shrubs also needed water, along with the perennials. I only water some, when they look real droopy. Supposed to be tough growers. I do have some new trees going, they also needed drinks, no deep roots. Those aqua cones that fit on pop bottles, do seem to work keeping far out trees going with a steady moisture. I only fill those once a week for the little pines beyond the hose length.

Kent ~ That recipe sounds delicious as do all the others you hinted at. Yesterday I got into the mood to bake so made some lime sours. A flour/butter crust, baked first, then a mixture of eggs, brown sugar, coconut, lime juice, lemon peel, chopped walnuts, vanilla, a tad of baking powder, on top of the crust, then bake for another 20 minutes. Yummy, with vanilla ice cream. Diana ~ Thanks for the kitchen renovation pictures. I remember those days when we did ours. Things were cramped and hectic for awhile, but not anymore and we love what we did. I can hardly wait to see pictures of your kitchen when it is done. Hang in there, keep a sense of humor, get plenty of rest and have fun, pretty soon it will all be over. Edna ~ Keep us posted, and get plenty of rest and garden time for yourself, to keep your spirits up. Eduarda ~ I understand about waiting for fall weather to get to where you are, same here. The colors definitely are better then as the flowers are not being fried. The last couple of days we've noticed a big change in the weather, cooler in the mornings and evenings. Such a welcome change. Dayle Ann ~ Sorry to hear you didn't get the job, but glad that you are taking it in stride. Sometimes things have a way of working out even though it might not be what we had hoped for. Do take care of yourself, and enjoy each day and your home and gardens. I also enjoy this great group of friends here. It is always great to hear what is happening with all. Marilyn ~ This morning I was out watering and just felt so thankful and so appreciative for our home and property. We have had cooler weather the past couple of days and it really makes a difference in how you feel. Has your weather cooled down anymore? Have you gotten anymore rain? Fern ~ You will learn a lot and be inspired here. Hope to see you more often as well as the rest of the newbies and lurkers. ;-) Kent ~ Thanks for letting us know Tenderheart is still around. Miss seeing her in here. How fortunate your neighbors are that you pass along plants and 'goodies to eat'. (((Kathy))) ~ I'm so sorry to hear you've been ill. I hope and pray you are soon feeling much better and able to get out and enjoy your gardens. Glad to hear PatchoulieJulie is still around. What is her business? Don't go feeling like you've been neglectful, you have to get well and we understand. FlowerLady

Great news---woo hoo! DD went to OSU---loved, loved, loved it. It's a huge school but doesn't feel like it. And they were great when their off-campus house had a fire---really helped the girls find housing in short order. I can't say enough good things about OSU. And of course, since he is into football, the Buckeye fans are hard to beat! DD graduated in 2008 with a degree in Health Information Mgmt. She interned at the OSU Med Center junior/senior year. She moved back home and worked at NIH for 9 months, then got offered a job back at the Med Center. She worked there for 4 years and basically got her MHA for free. She is now working as a consultant for a small company, still living in Columbus. She's pretty happy there still, but it's becoming a little more difficult socially as her friends marry and/or move away. She has a better standard of living there--can afford her own nice apartment....she'd have to have roomates if she lived here(DC area) so she's torn about moving back. DS got into Indiana but not the special program he wanted so went elsewhere. I think it would have been his first choice....another great school and campus/college town. Can't wait to see where your son lands....it's an exciting time!